AT&T’s Acquisition of T-Mobile May Hurt Startups, Gurley Says

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Bill Gurley, a venture capitalist whose investments include OpenTable Inc. and Zillow Inc., said AT&T Inc.’s planned purchase of T-Mobile USA Inc. will hamper innovation among startups that sell services to mobile carriers.

Fewer wireless-service providers may mean diminished demand for new mobile-phone applications and other products, Gurley said in a televised interview with “Bloomberg West.” “It has already become very difficult to seed ventures where the primary customer was the carrier,” said Gurley, a partner at Benchmark Capital. “It just becomes a more stodgy oligopoly.” Even before the proposal, many venture capitalists wouldn't invest in wireless-equipment companies because the carriers have “too much market power,” Gurley said.


AT&T’s Acquisition of T-Mobile May Hurt Startups, Gurley Says